The Old Times Year 1
by GuitarHeroLost
Summary: A story featuring James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter's first year at Hogwarts, with of course Snape, Lily, and a few OCs. Read and review please!
1. Chapter 1

**My second try at a Harry Potter fic. Sure, the other one I actually never posted, but I did start writing it. And sorry if it's a bit…extremely…Sirius-centric, but I'm a bit…extremely…obsessed! So first chapter, starting out with, you guessed it, SIRIUS! And by the way, some of it does NOT follow the books. Just goes by my imagination. And if it's not focused around Sirius, then it's focused around Izabella, who is an Original Character.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from Harry Potter **_**or **_**a billion dollars. Clearly, I am not J.K. Rowling.**

"…and Sirius, are you listening to me?"

Sirius snapped his gaze away from a group of girls across the platform and back onto his mother. "Yes, Mom."

"Well what did I say?" Mrs. Black asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at her son.

"Um, no Mug-I mean, no Mudbloods," he stiffened, trying not to wince at the use of the word. Truth be told, Sirius wasn't paying any attention at all to his mother's speech. He'd heard it all; "Mudbloods" weren't worthy of going to Hogwarts and he should just ignore them.

Mrs. Black looked satisfied, and Regulus spoke up, "You won't have to worry about running into Mudbloods in Slytherin, though."

"Precisely, Regulus," their mom said fondly, and Regulus beamed. Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yes, well, I should definitely get to the train," Sirius decided to say. "Like, now."

Sirius hardly waited for Mrs. Black and Regulus to say their goodbyes before rushing off. He leapt on the train, grateful that the day of departure had finally come. Family life was less than desirable. Here he could make new friends, be himself…but not in Slytherin, he thought disgustedly. He'd end up in Slytherin with other stuck-up pure-bloods like his family.

Sirius found a compartment with just a boy in it, who looked Sirius's age. "Hey, can I sit here?" Sirius asked awkwardly.

The boy lifted his head off the window with his hair messed up and replied, "Yeah, I don't care."

Sirius sat down and after a moment of silence, thought that if they were spending the whole journey together they might as well know each other. "I'm Sirius," he said.  
"James Potter," the other person said immediately.

"Potter," Sirius repeated. "Pure-blood?"

James shot him a dirty look. Sirius felt guilty, but it was out of habit. He wished he wasn't so much like his family. "Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know," Sirius sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm one of the only people who has just got to be related to their family."

James chuckled. "That bad?"

"Pretty much," Sirius answered, thankful for being able to cover up his mistake from earlier. "And knowing my luck, I'll probably end up in the same house as them too."

"What's that?" James asked curiously.

"Slytherin," Sirius said. James made gagging noises, and Sirius frowned. "Bit of an overreaction, isn't it?"

"Oh, please," James said. "You're just jealous of my acting skill." Sirius burst out laughing and James grinned. "Besides, Gryffindor is where it's at, home-skillet."

"Did you seriously just call me that?" Sirius questioned, fighting laughter. "And if I had my choice I would be in Gryffindor."

"That'd be cool if you did have a choice," James admitted. "But no, we get told what to do by a talking hat."

The day wore one and the train kept going along as Sirius and James talked more. With a sudden burst of noise, James yelled, "I'M SO HUNGRY!"

"I find banging my head against the wall helps," Sirius said with a shrug. James proceeded to do just that when the compartment door slid open, revealing two girls standing just outside.

James ceased his wall-head-banging and turned to the girls, his hazel eyes wide behind his glasses. He and Sirius stared at them, waiting.

"Oh…hi," one of them said without embarrassment. Turning to her friend with bright red hair, she whispered, "See? I told you he was cute."

Sirius threw a devious look at James, but noticed that he was too busy staring at the girls still. Sirius, a bit disgruntled, turned back to the girls and put a grin on his face, saying, "How may we help you ladies?"

But before the blonde or the redhead could open their mouths, they got a terrified look on their faces, and stepped aside, allowing two older girls to walk inside. James's face fell, and his sad look was quickly replaced by one of confusion.

"Sirius," the taller one said, nodding. Sirius nodded politely back. She eyed James suspiciously. "Who's your friend?"

"Potter," Sirius said, and James wondered about the use of his surname. Before the dark-haired girl or the white-haired girl could say a thing, Sirius said, "Yes," and glared at them furiously.

James picked this time to speak up, and rather rudely said, "Who are you."

"My cousins," Sirius muttered. "Bella, fifth year. I mean, Bellatrix." He indicated the one who spoke up earlier, with the bright, dark eyes and hair. "And Cissy, fourth year."

"Hey," James said casually, which Sirius found, because how could anyone talk to his cousins like that and not cower in fear?

Bella and Cissy ignored James completely, gave Sirius a strange look, and walked away. Sirius raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"Sirius?" James said quietly and Sirius looked over at him. "…your cousins are hot."

Sirius looked like he was hit by a Bludger, and was speechless, for the first time in his life. "That was the scariest moment of my life. I thought she was going to kill you," Sirius finally said.

James snickered, but stopped immediately. He stared at where the compartment door still stayed open, and said. "Did you know them?"

"I said they were my cousins," Sirius said.

"No! Not them," James said, shaking his head. He looked at Sirius, begging him to understand without having to admit it. Slowly, Sirius's face glowed with understanding.

"Which one was it?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," James said. Well he was a good liar but Sirius didn't buy it.

"I saw the blonde girl at the station earlier," Sirius said, slowly, drawing out every word. James looked disappointed. "Aha! So it was the other one!"

James was defeated, but he didn't seem to care. "We should spy on them," he said suddenly and with confidence.  
"Great plan, but what happens when they see us?" Sirius said sarcastically.

"They won't," James said, a grin creeping up on his face. Before Sirius could ask what James was up to there was a loud crash, a scream, and some cruel laughter.

James and Sirius exchanged a shocked look and jumped up to find the source of the noises. James's eyes lit up when he saw the two girls from earlier searching for the same thing. Sirius and James followed them and found a compartment with some Slytherin guy with a prefect badge and his friends bullying a boy their age.

Sirius and James started laughing, but James ceased at the distraught look on the redhead's face. Sirius stopped too. James looked like he wanted to do something but had no idea what. "Hey Malfoy!" Sirius yelled.

The leader of the three Slytherins stopped and scowled at Sirius. James stepped up now that Sirius had gotten his attention. Malfoy was much taller than him but he glared at him with such hatred it was frightening. "Leave the kid alone."

Unfortunately this was the time that Bellatrix and Narcissa appeared at the scene to meet their friends. "Sirius," Cissy hissed. "Control your friend."

"No," Sirius said loudly. "He's right. _You_ control _your_ friends."

James pushed the poor kid who was being picked on towards the door. "C'mon, you're with us now."

The three stepped out of the compartment and Sirius ran quickly back to their own compartment.

"Dude," he moaned, sprawled out over about three chairs. "We are SO lucky to be alive! Breathe while you can!"

James and the other kid laughed. "Thanks," he finally mumbled.

"Please," James said rolling his eyes. "It was the least I could do to impress our lady friend."

"And get my cousins angry," Sirius whispered. He jumped up suddenly. "Anyway, I'm Sirius."

"James."

"Peter."

"Are you Pure-blood?" Sirius blurted out and then bit his lip. "Um…never mind!"

Peter laughed hesitantly, then answered, "Yes, I am."

The three talked for a bit more, until the redheaded girl with green eyes showed up with her greasy-haired male friend. "We should be arriving soon, so you should probably get changed into your robes," she said.

"Who are _you?_" James sneered, glaring at the dark haired boy.

He glared right back and didn't answer. Completely oblivious to their glaring, the girl answered, "I'm Lily, and this is Severus."

"A pleasure," James said, standing up, grasping her hands and shaking them vigorously. Severus's eyes narrowed.

"So are you-?" Sirius began, but James anticipated it. He let go of Lily's hands and slapped a hand over Sirius's mouth, and he ceased talking immediately. Lily looked questioning.

"So yeah," she said awkwardly. "We're arriving soon. Right." She turned away and her friend followed.

When they were gone, James turned to Sirius and said, "Way to make a complete fool out of us."

Sirius shrugged. "Hey, I'm not the one who likes her."

…….

"Black, Sirius!"

_Here goes_, Sirius thought without enthusiasm. James offered him a sympathetic look as he trudged his way to the front of the school and sat on the stool.

There was a hesitation in the hat, and then Sirius heard it speak. _Oh, I know what I should do with you. A whole family of Slytherins as your ancestors._

"I'm not like them," Sirius whispered so softly with a lot of anger.

_Are you? Arrogant, self-centered, yet you do seem to care about blood status. On the other hand, you are smart, determined, and at heart, you are kind. I think the choice is pretty clear…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius sat, stunned. As he slowly got up from the stool, he caught a glimpse of his cousins across the room. Just seeing their faces made him feel much better, and he jumped down and ran to the Gryffindor table, heart light.

And then another familiar face made its way to the stool after Professor McGonagall called for "Evans, Lily!"

_What do we have here? Oh, what a brain on this one. Muggle-born too, well, I do think you'll do well in…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius saw James celebrating silently to himself, and a few places away, Severus shot Lily a disappointed look, which she returned.

Several other first years made their way into Gryffindor, including a young, tired looking boy ("Lupin, Remus!"), Lily's friend from the train ("McCall, Izabella!"), two other girls, ("Morrison, Stephanie!" "Orrin, Monica!"), and Peter, before it came to James.

"Potter, James!"

James leapt up onto the stool and sat waiting patiently. There was a small voice that echoed out.

_Oh, well there are so many things I could do with you. Smart, oh yes, you are a brilliant child, you'd do well in Ravenclaw._

"You're out of your mind," James said back, because he felt he belonged in Gryffindor, without a doubt.

_You've got some nerve, boy. I guess that makes it much clearer. Several great minds have come out of Gryffindor that is true. So the best option here…_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James hurried off of the stool and sat by Sirius, who gave him a high-five, and they watched the rest of the first years get sorted into their houses.

**Okay that ending was kind of sudden by I needed to end it so I could work on a different story! So R & R, tell me what you think! I know there are a lot of these stories out there but I've had ideas swarming in my head for a long time. And if you know me, I don't play by the rules…******** I tend to be different.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yeah I know I need to update sooner so just…keep reading and there WILL be more chapters eventually!**

After the Sorting Ceremony, food appeared on the plates and, for James, Sirius, and Peter, food disappeared almost as quickly. Lily sat near by with the other first year girls as they talked to an older prefect.

"This is like, the greatest food in the history of the world," James managed to say while swallowing.

"Agreed," both other boys said, and Sirius continued, "But not even the great Hogwarts could make me eat green beans."

He grimaced at the bowl of them in front of him. James leaned over and poked it with the tip of his wand. The green beans immediately turned a dark shade of orange.

"Now they're not green anymore," he commented while Peter burst out laughing and Sirius scowled at him, but his eyes were lit up as he too took out his wand and began poking at the food.

"You know, some people still want to eat that," Lily said disgustedly, eyeing the mutations of food.

"I think it's still edible," James shrugged. They ignored her and kept on prodding the dishes with their wands and enjoying the results.

However, moments later Dumbledore was on his feet and making his way down to the Gryffindor table. Sirius and James hid their wands from view and acted as if they were eating peacefully, but it was hard not to notice the food oddities before them.

To their surprise, the Headmaster kept on walking by to another first year boy who had been called out earlier as Remus Lupin. Remus took one bite of the juicy, delicious steak, grimaced, and pushed it away. He proceeded to eat just vegetables and drink pumpkin juice as Dumbledore walked up to him.

"Is there a problem?" the Headmaster questioned softly so that Sirius, James, and Peter could hardly hear.

Remus shook his head and said, "I just…prefer my meat a little less done."

"Understandable," Dumbledore muttered. He walked back up to the head table and turned to a large man with a mustache, who nodded and walked out of the hall. Moments later he returned and a plate appeared on the Gryffindor table of almost completely raw meat. Remus took some and began eating.

"Hey," James muttered to him, and he looked up. "Can I see that?" he asked, indicating the plate of meat. Remus looked at him curiously, and handed over the plate. James poked it and it turned blue.

Remus laughed and nudged the meat with his own wand. It developed green stripes. The four boys all began laughing. When it died down they all introduced themselves.

They struck up a conversation about Quidditch and carried it on throughout the meal. At the end, Dumbledore stood up and the talk died down. Everyone waited for him to speak.

"I do hope that all new arrivals and returnees enjoyed the Welcoming Feast!" he began. Several people cheered. "However, before I can send you off to sleep for lessons tomorrow, there are a few rules needed to cover. I'd like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is strictly forbidden. There is also a newly grown Whomping Willow on grounds that all students _must avoid_. If you do not follow this rule, the consequences will be very severe indeed. On a lighter note, I'd like to welcome a new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Blackburn."

A cheery-looking man with black hair stood up and smiled at the students, who applauded politely.

"New schedules will be handed out tomorrow morning," Dumbledore continued when Professor Blackburn sat down. "But now is not the time to fret about academics! Prefects, kindly show your houses to the dormitories. Sleep tight!"

Lily ran off towards into the crowd before James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter even got up from their seats. James looked after her wearily.

"Don't worry about her man," Sirius said, looking at his friend's sorrowful face. "She's bound to like you. That slimeball she hangs with won't like her for long. They're in rival houses. It can't work out."

James looked slightly cheered up, then started laughing. "Speaking of rival houses, did you see your cousins' faces?"

Sirius joined in the laughter too. "Oh, wow, I'm going to die. Somehow it's going to be my fault I was placed in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, you watch."

"My family expected me to be in Slytherin too," Peter piped up. "But I doubt they'd be too angry about it."

"That makes one of us," Sirius muttered as they approached a portrait of a fat lady and Lily caught up with her friends. She arrived just on time to catch the password and run inside with the rest of the house.

"I suggest you get to bed soon," a prefect said. "First day of lessons always feel like the longest."

"Well, that is, until you get to final exam time," another older student laughed bitterly.

All of the students gradually trudged upstairs and to their rooms. Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus were the only ones in the First Year, Boys room.

After 20 minutes of arguing over who gets which bed, throwing several different, heavy items, the four boys managed to crawl into bed and fall asleep. Only once did someone-presumably Remus- throw something at Sirius after the lights went out.

However, across the tower, the First Year, Girls room was up for a long time. These eleven-year olds were excited to be at Hogwarts, and this first night seemed almost like a slumber party.

The four girls – Lily, Monica, Izabella, and Stephanie – sat in the middle of the floor, Lily's wand tip illuminating the small space between them. They were chatting quietly.

"So who's that Slytherin boy you keep talking with, hmm, Lily?" Stephanie asked curiously.

"His name is Severus, and he just lived by me for a long time," Lily explained, blushing slightly. "He was the one that told me I'm a witch. Of course I didn't believe him at first, but then he started explaining this place to me and it was hard not to believe!"

"That's it?" Monica said, and Lily nodded defiantly. "Well if you're sure. After all, you have plenty other, better looking admirers who would be very pleased to hear you're not dating that guy."

"What are you talking about?" Lily demanded.

"James Potter," the three girls chorused happily because they knew that Lily knew precisely what they were talking about.

"_That_ guy," Lily scoffed. "Did you see him today at dinner? He and his disgusting little friends were doing some magic spells on _our_ food! I can't believe we have to spend the rest of the year with him!"

"You should count yourself lucky, Lils," Izabella told her, and Monica and Stephanie nodded vigorously in agreement. "Potter's smart, cute, funny, and brave. But I agree he should NOT have been bewitching our food like that."

"I thought you liked his friend, Black," Lily said indignantly. "And anyway, he'll be over me in no time, you'll see. Then maybe he'll stop acting like a pigheaded git and he can act civilized around my friends and I."

"By that you mean, leave you and Severus alone," Monica said, and then before Lily could protest, she continued, "I don't see why you don't like him. If I were you I'd take up the opportunity while I had the chance."

"If you like him so much, then you go out with him!" Lily protested. Monica raised her eyebrows and looked thoughtful. The girls laughed and Lily threw a pillow at Monica to bring her back into reality. She jumped and the four got in a huge pillow fight that lasted for about an hour before they were so exhausted they finally got some sleep.

……

"Um, guys…"

"Wow, Peter, what'd you do?" James asked, fighting the urge to laugh as Peter held up his dripping schedule.

"Pumpkin juice plus schedule equals unreadable class times," he muttered as Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor house, came and bewitched in clean again.

"Try to be more careful, Mr. Pettigrew," she scolded and the boys burst into laughter as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Yeah Mr. Pettigrew, you heard her!" Remus teased. As the laughter died down he added, "Oh we should probably _look_ at the schedules too."

"Good plan!" Sirius agreed, took one look at his schedule, and groaned. "Today isn't so bad, but looking at Thursday I could see why you wanted to spill juice on it, Peter."

"Oh…three classes with the Slytherins…" James said, trailing off. "Too bad I'm sick that day," he added, throwing his schedule off to the side carelessly.

"Excuse me?" two girls' voices rang out in harsh disbelief.

The boys looked over at where the first year girls were sitting. "Yes, Lily, dearest?" James replied sweetly, smiling at her.

Lily looked too affronted to say anything, so the other girl who spoke up, Izabella, said, "I did not just hear that you're planning on feigning sickness this Thursday, James Potter!"

"I don't know, it depends on how I feel," James answered. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all laughed but the girls didn't find it funny. "Come on, did you see that Blackburn guy? He's so cheerful he could cure Spattergroit!"

Sirius could tell neither of the girls understood what James said, so Sirius added, "And really, what if I go to Potions on Thursday and Slughorn sits on me? These good looks cannot meet an end like that!"

James couldn't help but laugh, and Izabella and Lily looked like they were fighting laughter too. Fortunately for them, Monica and Stephanie appeared so they didn't have to carry on their conversation with James and Sirius.

"I forgot what we're starting with," James said after he made sure Lily wasn't going to continue talking. He looked at his schedule which he was holding upside-down.

"Charms," Remus responded without taking his eyes off his hardly-cooked bacon.

"Did you, like, memorize the schedule already?" Sirius asked in disbelief. Remus shrugged.

"I figured that if someone here had to, it'd better be me," Remus said, looking at Peter's newly-dried schedule. "Seeing as I don't know how long they'll last on paper."

"Good plan!" James exclaimed and then proceeded to dump food and drinks all over his schedule. The girls looked appalled, especially when Sirius began joining in.

"If you're not going to eat we should get going to Charms," Remus said reluctantly, and the girls across the table looked at him with thankfulness in their eyes.

They agreed and started walking up to the Charms room. They were the first ones there, and it appeared the Charms Master, Professor Flitwick, wasn't there either. Identical evil grins broke out on James's and Sirius's faces.

"Remus, Peter," James commanded. "Sit down and wait patiently. Pretend you're the only ones here," he ordered them as he dug through his bag.

"What do you have in mind?" Remus said, acting all serious but he too had a malicious look in his tired eyes.

James didn't answer but continued looking through his bag. "Ha!" he exclaimed as he pulled a silvery looking cloak out of the bag.

"What is that?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Where'd you get an Invisibility Cloak?" Remus asked. Everyone ignored the fact that Peter, a pure-blood, knew nothing about Invisibility Cloaks and Remus (who the boys learned was Muggleborn the previous night) recognized one immediately.

"My dad gave it to me," James told him casually. "Sirius, come hither."

Sirius, grinning broadly, stepped under the cloak with James and they seemingly vanished. Peter and Remus picked up a conversation and it sounded like they were fully indulged in the conversation, but both kept throwing looks at where Sirius and James vanished a few minutes before.

One by one, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years piled into the room. "What are they going to do?" Peter whispered to Remus as Flitwick walked in.

"I don't know, but they better not just stay there all hour and miss the whole lesson," Remus said, glancing around the room.

"Welcome class!" Flitwick greeted happily. "Now before we start learning today I'll have to do roll call, just make yourselves known when you hear your name."

"Uh oh," Remus and Peter said simultaneously at his choice of words.

Thankfully, when Sirius Black was called almost immediately, there was no reaction. "Did anyone see Sirius Black at breakfast today?" Flitwick called.

"He was there, and he and his friends said they were coming up here," Izabella piped up, glaring suspiciously at Remus and Peter, who just smiled at her.

Flitwick just shrugged it off and continued. When he said "Lily Evans" James whistled and Sirius tried not to laugh.

Flitwick, it seemed, didn't notice, or didn't want to notice, and Lily, flushed with embarrassment and anger, just called out that she was here and Flitwick went on.

"James Potter?"

By this time, James and Sirius had made their way to behind a bookshelf (and only knocked into two people on the way, who looked around curiously). At the sound of his name, James whipped the Invisibility Cloak off of them, stuffed it in his bag, and walked out dramatically, all in a matter of seconds.

"No need to worry! I, James Potter, am here!" James announced, pulling up a seat by Remus and Peter. He glanced back at the bookshelf where Sirius stood, still hidden, but no longer invisible.

The lesson carried on. Flitwick was explaining to the class the differences of charms, hexes, jinxes, curses, enchantments, and other things like that. James was pretending to fall asleep, much to the amusement of Peter, who was finding it hard to not to laugh. Remus, however, was finding it hard to concentrate, and kept looking up from his notes to shoot them dirty looks, then smiling slightly and going back to writing.

However, about halfway through the lesson, Flitwick stopped midway through his sentence to say, "Mr. Black, what are you doing there?"

Everyone whipped around to where Professor Flitwick was looking and several students burst into laughter. Sirius looked quite comfortable on top of the bookshelf, where he was lying on his back with his head resting on his hands. At the sound of his name he looked over. "I don't know. I felt like we had enough dramatic entrances for one lesson,"

"Thanks, you're too kind," James said, smirking slightly.

"Come down from there at once!" Flitwick ordered, trying to sound strict, but you could tell he was amused.

"No! I'm scared! What if I fall?" Sirius said, faking fear, but unable to keep the smile off of his face.

"Oh, let me help you!" Remus said at once, grinning evilly, leaping out of his seat.

A real look of fear flashed across Sirius's face as Remus made his way across the room. "No, really, Remus, I'm kidding, I think I can –," Sirius stuttered as Remus took hold of the bookcase and began shaking it violently.

CRASH.

The class burst into laughter, while Sirius got off of the ground, muttering darkly. "Alright, boys, that's enough," Flitwick said, letting the class enjoy their laughter. "Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, please take your seats."

The rest of the lesson went uninterrupted, but Peter, James, Sirius, and Remus kept throwing looks at each other and tried not to laugh.

…

James wasn't done there.

He pushed Remus, Sirius, and Peter out of the Great Hall early, claiming he had another great idea with the Cloak.

They walked into the classroom where they would be having Transfiguration with the Slytherins.

They remained quiet as they waited for James and his 'act of brilliance.' He pulled the Cloak out of his bag. Peter, who was nearest to the door, said, "I think someone's coming – hurry!"

That he did. But instead of throwing the Cloak over himself, he tossed it over a chair. Grinning, he sat where it was, and (his legs weren't quite long enough to reach the floor) it appeared he was floating in midair.

"Genius!" Sirius exclaimed, and sat on the other side of him as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Remus and Peter followed suit.

And, as Peter predicted, two people walked into the room – Lily and Snape. James's eyes narrowed but Remus's lit up with malice.

Lily and Snape stopped in their paths, looking at James propped up and leaning against something that, apparently, wasn't there. "What the Hell, Potter?" Snape sneered.

"Watch your language, Snivellus," James said with venom in his voice.

"But really, Potter," Lily began.

"Yes, my dear?" James interrupted, his tone unnaturally sweet.

Speechless with rage, Lily said nothing. Snape spoke for her. "What's the deal with this?" he asked as two more Slytherins, Mulciber and Avery, walked into the room and also froze in their tracks.

"Can't you tell?" Remus asked. "Oh, I wouldn't have thought so. You see, this seat's visible only to the smartest, the coolest, and, all around, the best in the school."

Snape looked angry, and Lily was not amused. Avery, who completely lacked in brains, said, "Well I don't see it!"

Sirius, James, Remus, and even Peter (who wasn't too smart himself) rolled their eyes at Avery's stupidity.  
"Whatever it is you're pulling, you better quit it, Potter, this isn't funny," Lily said, but you could see a smile playing on the corners of her mouth.

"You don't see it either Lils?" James said, disappointed. "Well, no doubt you are cool and smart, but Remus never mentioned the prettiest in the school."

This time they all – Gryffindors and Slytherins alike – rolled their eyes at James's flirting.

Before any more students walked in, in came Professor McGonagall. She took one glance at the dirty looks exchanged and the 'floating' James Potter and said, "Take your seats. That includes you, Mr. Potter."

"I'm sitting, aren't I?" he complained.

…

"Seriously, though, James," Remus said that night after lessons. They were in the common room and thankfully, there were many chattering Gryffindors there. He lowered his voice. "Where _did_ you get that Invisibility Cloak?"

James shrugged. "Family heirloom, I guess you could call it. My dad gave it to me. When I asked where he got it, he said Grandpa gave it to him."

Remus frowned, looking thoughtful. "The Invisibility charm should have worn off by now, if that's true."

"Well, it clearly hasn't," he said. "And my dad probably didn't want to tell me the truth anyway. Knowing him he got it illegally."

Remus, Sirius, and Peter laughed, and James smiled, but he also added, "Guys, I'm serious. My father's a very tricky person."

"Must be where you get it from," Lily's voice came from behind them. She stood there with her arms folded. Izabella was with her.

"Lily!" James jumped. He looked nervous. "H-how much did you hear of that conversation?"

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Just that one sentence."

"You better be telling the truth," he said, exhaling with relief.

"I am," she said. "But I think it has something to do with yours and Sirius's miraculous entrances this morning in Charms."

"Oh, but we were there the whole time," James declared, acting as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Yeah, or how else could we have gotten behind that bookcase without anyone noticing?" Sirius added.

"Magic," Lily smirked.

James and Sirius exchanged a _she-has-a-good-point_ look, and Izabella added, "And a few minutes before James walked out from there, I felt something bump against my arm, but nothing was there."

"Maybe you're imagining things," James suggested.

"But James, that can't be it, Izabella lacks any imagination," Sirius pointed out. "She's even more strict than Lily when it comes to the rules."

Izabella grew red in the face. "You watch it, Black, or I'll -,"

"Iza, don't bother," Lily said.

"You just can't imagine up what you'd do to me," Sirius said smugly.

Izabella had her wand out faster than James, Remus, or Peter could laugh. Sirius was almost still smirking when his chair, with him in it, was blasted backward, it did a complete somersault and everyone looked over at the chair. It was upside down when Sirius scrambled out from under it. By this time, Izabella and Lily were nowhere in sight.

When Sirius finally pulled his leg out from under the arm of the chair, he gaped at James, Remus, and Peter, who were pushing themselves not to laugh.

"Dude…" James said finally, before bursting into laughter.

"That was not cool!" Sirius said furiously, straightening himself up. "What's the deal with that chick?"

"You knew that hit her hard, Sirius," Remus said reproachfully. "You went too far."

"She overreacted," Sirius countered.

"You're being immature," Remus shot back.

"I think we can all agree that was hilarious," Peter interrupted, James nodding beside him. Sirius scowled and Remus shrugged.

"I'm going to bed," Sirius said finally, marching up the stairs.

**UPDATE! I am SO obsessed with this book series. And Sirius. And, surprisingly, Snape, who has become my new second favorite character. I'm so, so sorry for the delayed update. I was focused on my Lost stories, which I am completely ignoring now because every time I try to write in them I get writer's block. Review please!**


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